the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Read the Bible
Complete Jewish Bible
Isaiah 16
1 Send lambs for the ruler of the land
from the crags toward the desert
to the mountain of the daughter of Tziyon.
2 The daughters of Mo'av at the fords of the Arnon
are like fluttering birds pushed from the nest.
3 "Give [us] counsel! Decide [to help]!
Make your shadow [over us]
like night in the middle of noonday.
Hide [our] outcasts! Don't betray [our] fugitives!
4 Let our outcasts live with you!
Protect Mo'av from the attacks of robbers!"
For when the extorting ends, the spoiling ceases,
and those trampling on the land are destroyed,
5 a throne will be set up by grace,
and on it, in the tent of David,
will sit an honest judge,
seeking justice and pursuing righteousness.
6 We have heard about Mo'av's pride,
how very proud they are;
about their haughty arrogance,
their insolence and bravado.
7 Therefore Mo'av will wail for Mo'av —
they will all wail!
You will sigh, stricken by grief,
for the raisin-cakes of Kir-Hareset.
8 For the grainfields of Heshbon are withering,
also the vineyards of Sibmah,
whose red grapes overpowered rulers of nations —
once they reached as far as Ya‘zer
and trailed out into the desert;
their spreading branches even crossed the sea.
9 Therefore I will weep for Sibmah's vine
as I weep for Ya‘zer;
I will water you with my tears,
Heshbon and El‘aleh;
because the shouts of battle are falling
on your summer fruits and harvest;
10 gladness and joy are removed
from the fruitful fields.
No revelry in the vineyards,
no happy shouting,
no one treading grapes in the wine presses —
I have silenced the vintage-cheers.
11 This is why my heart throbs
like a lyre for Mo'av,
and everything in me
for Kir-Heres.
12 Even when Mo'av is seen growing weary
of worshipping on the high places
and entering their sanctuaries to pray,
they will have accomplished nothing.
13 This is the word Adonai spoke against Mo'av in the past. 14 But now Adonai has said, "Within three years [and not a day more], as if a hired worker were keeping track of the time, the glory of Mo'av will be brought into contempt, despite its large population; and the surviving remnant will be few and feeble."
